Recharge and Restart
by Octopus Fine
Summary: In which Bumblebee learns the consequences of badly-timed pranks, and Sentinel finds himself waking up into a strange situation. Sentinel/Bumblebee. Crack, rated for mature-ish themes and transformers swear words.
1. Chapter 1

Well, I didn't really have much inspiration for this one, all I wanted to do was to write Sentinel in a pairing with someone. And, everyone knows that Bumblebee's been with JUST ABOUT EVERYONE/THING and I didn't see a SentinelxBee one, so here it is. Word.

I really like Sentinel and I don't know why. (: I'm pretty sure that he's only an asshole because he's bitter about Elita and stuff. I always figured they were in a relationship. What if he was in love with her? What if Sentinel wanted to bond with her and have a future with her? And then to have her die, and you not even able to do anything would affect just about everyone. Also, if your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/whatever disappeared for a while and you thought him/her were dead, and them to come back half robotic, you'd be pretty disgusted and overwhelmed too. Especially if you were as afraid of robots as Sentinel is to organics.

Okay. I'm stopping before I go into a full rant. Haha. Stop listening to me ramble and go read the story. C: First Transformers fic, so go easy on me. ;] May or may not continue this, depends on if I get reviews or not. xD

And make sure to review! ;3

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Transformers Animated. Unfortunately. D:

* * *

Bumblebee whistled as he strolled through the Autobot Main Headquarters in Iacon, his good mood radiated from his cheeky smile and bouncing stride. The fame he'd acquired through his adventures at Earth quickly elevated him to Elite Guard rank. He'd finally reached his dream! Although, that dream did involve being near the insufferable glitch-head Sentinel Magnus and the ever paranoid new Intel Chief Cliffjumper, Bumblebee thought. But, it didn't matter anyway. He was a part of the Elite Guard now, and nothing could stop him.

Passing by several closed corridors, he made his way back to his quarters. Turning a corner, he caught a glimpse of an open door. Bumblebee grinned, plans for a prank instantly popping up in his processor. Now that he thought about it, he did subspace some ferocious magenta paint earlier this morning. Tiptoeing quietly into the open quarters, Bumblebee's grin grew wider and wider. There, with his face planted into a datapad and his fans whirring softly in recharge, was Sentinel Magnus. Bumblebee stifled a giggle. The slagger deserves nothing less than this, thought the yellow compact smugly. This is for all of those transform-ups in Boot Camp.

He unsubspaced the magenta paint and a paintbrush, creeping slowly up to the recharging mech. The mech mumbled something softly, but otherwise didn't show any signs of waking. Smirking once again, Bee slowly swirled the paintbrush in the magenta paint. A mustache and a nice unibrow would look stunning on the truck. This is too easy, the subcompact thought with an even bigger smirk.

The blue Magnus muttered a word again. Of course, the curious Bumblebee leaned forward to try and catch the word.

Before he could react, the blue 'bot's arms encircled his waist, pulling him into a tight embrace. Bumblebee squeaked with indignation, dropping the paint and brush. What in the Pit? Did the fragger wake up? Much to Bee's discomfort, Sentinel's arms came to rest around his waist, a huge blue servo planted on the small of his back. Somehow, Bumblebee now found himself curled in the bigger bot's lap. Bumblebee struggled, not quite believing what was happening. "What is your problem?!" he squawked, his hands pressing on Sentinel's chest, trying to escape. These attempts proved fruitless, as Bumblebee realized just how small he was compared to the truck.

Bee froze as Sentinel leaned down to nuzzle Bee's neck. The blue mech mumbled incoherently into his neck and planted a kiss to his main fuel line at the base of his neck. He tried to wiggle free again, but the servo on his back kept him firmly pressed to the broad chassis in front of him.

Sentinel nuzzled the shocked Bee for a klik, occasionally pressing a kiss to the black neck in front of him. It was then, after a few more kliks of wiggling, that Bumblebee realized that Sentinel was still in recharge. The Magnus' optics were definitely powered off and Bee could faintly hear the soft whirring of his internal systems.

Bee shifted again, and weighed his options. He could either do plan A: Be as loud as possible, wake up the Magnus, and probably have a homicidal mech on his hands, or he could go with plan B: Deal with the newfound affectionate side of Sentinel, wait for a chance to escape, and get out of this with all of his limbs intact. Naturally, Bee went with plan B. (harhar. That was a wonderful pun, if I do say so myself)

After about a breem of squirming, Bee's leg finally broke free. He gave a triumphant whoop of joy, then covered his vocalizer with his servos, temporarily forgetting where he was. It was a miracle that the leader of the Autobots hadn't woken up yet, with all the noise Bee was making. He'd simply just been resting his head on the younger bot's shoulder, deeply in recharge.

Bee's other leg was almost free when the affectionate-in-recharge Sentinel pressed his face into the subcompact's neck again, trailing sweet kisses up his main fuel line. Bumblebee shivered, feeling the first echoes of pleasure as Sentinel's big servos moved to the sides of his hips, tweaking a few wires inside sensitive transformation seams along the way. His freed leg had fallen to the floor, and Bee instantly and without thought pressed closer to the Magnus and straddled him tightly. He gasped as the blue plow truck made it to his chin and pressed a lingering peck to the corner of his mouth. The Magnus murmured something sleepily again, and this time Bee was close enough to hear it.

"Elita."

Bee stiffened. Had Sentinel been dreaming about someone else and done this subconsciously? Who the frag is Elita, anyway? He'd never heard of that name in the Elite Guard ranks or in the Alpha nobility, and the arrogant Sentinel would never settle for less than that. His thoughts were cut off as Sentinel tightened his grip on his hips, grinding up into Bee's interface panel as he captured Bee's lower lip with his denta, sucking gently. The subcompact whined softly, feeling Sentinel's glossa swipe across his trapped lower lip. Bee's eyes widened at the whine. This could get out of control very fast, he decided. His thoughts were cut short as Sentinel pulled slightly away, that same name he'd been mumbling came off his lips again, close enough that Bumblebee could feel the word on his lower lip. The leader closed the distance between the two, pressing his lips gently to Bumblebee's. All thoughts washed away as Bee felt the pure emotion in that one kiss. The love that radiated from it was staggering, and Bee couldn't help but to let out a moan, muffled by Sentinel. All this gentleness and delicacy was so off from Sentinel's usual behavior, and Bumblebee couldn't help but to wonder where this came from and what triggered it.

Bumblebee's thoughts were cut off as Sentinel's wandering hands brushed a sensor node in his hip, startling a low moan from Bee. The yellow subcompact arched into him, white-hot pleasure racing through his back struts, and dug his small digits into the seams underneath the bigger bot's shoulder plows. He pushed further into the kiss, his small glossa flicking across Sentinel's lips. The bot complied, and soon Sentinel's glossa was passionately exploring the wet cavern of Bee's mouth, the younger 'bot giving off moans and shivers of delight. As Sentinel kissed Bee like he'd never been kissed before, he stroked and gently pinched that same sensor in his hip, leaving him a quivering mess.

Somehow, through this processor-blowing kiss, Bee heard Sentinel's systems whirr and click out of recharge and remembered the situation at hand. He just made out with a recharging slaghead. Not just a recharging slaghead, THE recharging slaghead. Aw, slag! The yellow racer struggled to slip out of Sentinel's death grip as the whirring and clicking from the Magnus' internal systems sped up into a normal, functioning speed. Bee's processors froze to a roaring halt as Sentinel's optics powered on to find himself in a passionate lip-lock with one of his subordinates. As soon as he felt Sentinel's lips go slack against his, the yellow subcompact wrenched himself away, feeling energon creep to his faceplates when he noticed the trail of mouth lubricants still connecting the two. Bee swatted it away, his faceplates burning.

Sentinel shuttered his optics briefly, and Bee took that time to throw all of his weight at one of the arms imprisoning him, but he didn't even manage to move them a budge. The Magnus seemed to be taking an extra long time to pull out of recharge, so the situation didn't dawn on him at the moment.

The awkwardness was getting exceedingly uncomfortable to Bee, and he did the only thing he knew how to do: blurt out something inappropriate at completely the wrong time. Bee asked rather quickly, "Who is Elita?"

Now that took Sentinel out of his slow post-recharge sleepiness. He narrowed his optics at the bot still straddling him. "What was that?" He rumbled, a hidden threat beneath his voice.

Bumblebee realized too late that that was the absolute worst thing he could have said in that situation. He gulped under the big blue bot's glare, responding to him hesitantly, "W-who is Elita? … S-sir!"

Sentinel snarled and stood up, scooping the yellow bot up in his arms and dumping him roughly on the floor in front of his desk. "How did you know about her?!" He hissed, servos slamming down onto his desk, crunching datapads and the desk itself with its force. Bumblebee's optics widened and he opened his mouth to answer. However, Sentinel cut him off. "Nevermind!" He interrupted, glaring daggers down at the mech on the floor. "You will go back to your quarters, and await your punishment! This kind of behavior is unacceptable! Assaulting your commanding officer, this is ridiculous!"

Bee scrambled as fast as he could out of that room, pressing himself to the far wall of the outside hallway. Sentinel's door slid shut fast, but Bee caught a glimpse of Sentinel slumping back into his chair and cradling his head in his hands. It was a sad gesture, and Bee's curiosity about this "Elita" femme only grew. Sentinel was obviously angry and hurt about whatever happened between the two, and he was going to figure it out. Bumblebee's infinite curiosity perked to its peak at this newfound information, and his processor practically itched to figure out this new unknown.

He had to figure it out. It was stuck on his processor and Bee wouldn't rest until this mystery was explained.


	2. Chapter 2

Well, hello there, my dearies. I don't seem to have any reviews yet, but I'm going to update anyway.

This chapter is mostly a set up chapter for the story's plot. Sorrry. :(

And, Alphatron-3 is one of my OCs, apparently. Honestly just came up with her right as I was writing this. She probably needs some work, but she's just in this story to be the gossipy yet very wise in the relationship department Aunt to Bumblebee. Because, face it, he needs some real help if he's going to ever get Sentinel.

Also, this story's rating is probably going to get bumped up soon. And it'll probably be sticky, too. :C I know some of you have issues with that, but I honestly can't write plug-n-play or sparkmerging as well as I can write sticky stuffs. :C I do think PnP and Sparkmerging is cute, but this story isn't exactly supposed to be cute yet. Well, I think it won't be cute. Haven't gotten that far in the planning yet. xD

And, my version of the Cybertronian newspaper is the Cybertronian Live News Feed, because they don't have paper and it would only be logical that news would be on the internet, then.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Transformers, but I do own Alphatron-3! Who I just came up with tonight! xD

* * *

Chapter Two

There was one thing about monitor duty that Bee liked, and one thing only. Usually monitor duty at graveyard hours was grueling and aimlessly boring, but, since Megatron was safe inside a high-security prison in Kaon and the Decepticon threat was basically eliminated, no one expected much of the bots assigned to monitor duty. Slag, being put on monitor duty was usually a punishment, not a necessary job. To say that the victorious Autobots were smug was a big understatement. But, anyway, the one thing Bee liked about monitor duty was the fact that he could do something completely different and that had nothing to do with staring blankly at security monitors and get away with it.

Bumblebee scowled, wondering just who he pissed off to have to go through with this inhumane torture. His processors felt like they were jelly, and his neck hurt like the Pit. Behind this all, though, he knew exactly who he angered. Sentinel had never showed up to deliver Bee's punishment, but he had been assigning the yellow bot to all of the mentally-torturous jobs around the headquarters. Bee'd been terrified out of his processors as he waited for Sentinel's furious lecture back at his room, but, after he realized Sentinel wasn't coming, he couldn't help but to giggle about the situation. Especially how Sentinel said that Bee was "assaulting his commanding officer." If that's what they call it these days, Bumblebee thought with a lazy smirk.

He had not found any information about this "Elita" femme, either, and it was bothering him like no other juicy bit of mystery had before. There was nothing on her on Cybertron's Live News Feed, or in any of the datapads he'd poured over. The yellow racer sighed again, slumping in his chair to rest his head on the main computer's keyboard. My processor is going to melt if I have to go through any more of this, he thought rebelliously.

Bee found his processor slowly wandering back to Sentinel. He hadn't seen the Magnus since their, um, incident, and Bumblebee couldn't help but to think back at it with fondness. It seemed like, Bumblebee thought with horror, that he had developed a new attraction to the arrogant chin-bot. If someone told him a vorn ago that he'd have a crush on Sentinel Prime, he would've laughed harder than he'd laughed in a long time. But, here he was, daydreaming about those huge servos stroking his hip seams, those powerful arms holding him tightly, that warm glossa tangled up with his own… Bumblebee shivered, pushing down that train of thought before it got him into some real trouble. Monitor duty was hardly a good time to get aroused.

Bee sighed, glancing lazily at the monitors. Still nothing, he noted. Bee's faceplates soon found the keyboard again, and he effortlessly flicked at a random switch.

_"Welcome to the Autobot Main Headquarters in Iacon. I am Alphatron-3, this facility's main battle computron. What would you like to do today?"_

Bumblebee yelped when the robotic female voice boomed from the main console, pounding on random buttons to try and shut it down. Only officers were allowed on the battle computer!

_"I would prefer it if you did __**not**__ pound on my keys like that, sir. Is there anything you needed?"_

Bee stared blankly at the screen, his mouth openly gaping and processor about to glitch. This computer was sentient?!

Alphatron-3 continued, _"It seemed you were looking for information about a femme earlier? With your permission, sir, I can search my databases."_

Bee continued to stare at the computer, astonished. After a few nanokliks, his faceplates formed into a wide grin. This was perfect! Iacon's Main Battle Computron was widely known as the fastest and most reliable computron in all of Cybertron! Alphatron-3 had been a marvel since before the war and had gained fame as the most expansive record library in the entire world. If anyone knew about Elita, it would be Alphatron! "You'd do that for me, Alphatron-3? That would be so helpful, you have no idea!" Bee exclaimed, his smile stretched from cheek seam to cheek seam. "… Wait a second. How did you know I was looking for info on her? I didn't say it out loud."

The computron made a strange clicking noise, almost like a chuckle. _"My Processor Wave Detection and Analysis System allows me to translate your processor waves into the thoughts they create. With your head pressed against my keys like that, I could hear you perfectly." _She paused as Bee gave her a horrified look. _"Oh, don't be embarrassed. It was quite refreshing to listen to your budding romance with the Magnus. Quite scandalous, dearie. I'm impressed."_

This is the weirdest battle computron I've ever met, Bumblebee decided. Hearing Alphatron-3's robotic femme voice talk like a gossipy femme Alpha was slightly processor-damaging. Bee opened and closed his mouth a few times, before he replied incredulously with a hint of an energon blush, "Thank you, I guess?" He paused, trying to word his next statement in a way that made him seem _not_ interested in Sentinel. Wisely, he figured this would only prompt Alphatron-3 into saying bawdy, embarrassing, things. Not that he knew it yet, but these bawdy statements would be said anyway, the poor gossipwhore computron hadn't heard of something this scandalous in megavorns. "Um, have you found anything about this Elita femme yet?" He questioned lightly.

The femme computron observed his energon blush with an internal chuckle. _"Only her military records, I'm afraid. Apparently she was in the Autobot Academy, until she unexpectedly offlined. There are no details about her deactivation, though, and, in my experience, no details on a terrible thing like that usually mean she was breaking some very important rule, and that resulted in her deactivation."_

A wave of disappointment washed through the yellow compact, and he slowly slumped back to his earlier position, his faceplates on Alphatron-3's keyboard.

_"Oh, don't look so down, dollface. It also says that she was grouped together with Sentinel dearest and a mech named Optimus Prime. His file says he was a top Elite Guard prospect, but they threw him out because of some random and unfiled discrepancy. And at about the same time as your little femme's deactivation, too! I spy with my little optics a little connection here."_

Bumblebee visably perked up. "Optimus, really?! I know him! We were on a team together for a super long time! I'll go ask him!" The yellow subcompact stood up quickly, knocking is chair over in his haste and completely forgetting about his monitor duty. Alphatron-3 didn't feel the need to remind him. Young mechs like him deserved to be out having fun and enjoying their youth, not rotting away during boring monitor duty. Plus that and the computron had been waiting a long time for Sentinel to hurry up and get 'faced to unwind a little. His constant arrogance was grating on her processors, she noted with a sigh, pulling up her favorite romance datapad and settling down with a content whirr.

* * *

As Bumblebee sped down the major highway out of Iacon, he couldn't help but to notice the stares directed at him. They had easily recognized him because of his Earth alt. mode. The subcompact was very different from the sleeker, more angular Cybertronian alt modes. Bee huffed, and sped up a little more.

Optimus lived in New Praxus, the booming industrial city built above the ruins of its namesake. About an hour away from Iacon, it was quickly becoming the 'in' place to live. All the businessmechs lived there, this hip and new crowd influencing Autobots all around the planet with their sleek and colorful paint jobs and quick, efficient manner. The Alpha nobility looked down their noses at these nouveau riche, despising anything new and different. Instead, they sneered at the public as they slowly rebuilt their beloved Crystal Towers and ignored the growing force right beneath their noses.

Everyone knew that the New Praxian businessmechs were slowly overtaking the all-Alpha Senate. Their fair and just morals and concern for the lower class was a fresh, enlightening breeze to the regular voters. The question here was, when the New Praxians take over, how would the Alphas take it? Or would they try and snatch that power back by force?

Bee shuddered at the possibility of another war, because that's exactly what it could develop into. Alphas were rich, and all those displaced bounty hunters were screaming at the bit to get their hands into some more credits. Bumblebee wished the day that Lockdown and his followers were his enemies once again would never come. Quite frankly, the mech scared the slag out of him.

Speeding up, Bee erased all pessimistic thoughts from of his processer and raced his way to New Praxus.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, hello thar. Sorry about the slow update, I had lots of homework and I was having severe issues writing Sentinel's part. My God, he's hard to write. I don't even like the final result of the Sentinel part, either. Oh well.

Also, NEXT CHAPTER IS SOME MORE JUICY STUFFS. I KNOW YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOME, YOU NASTY-MINDED FANGIRLS. ;D Hohoho. That's the pot calling the kettle black, right there.

I kept having ideas for a Grimlock/Bee story while writing this, but I pushed those thoughts out of my head before I got distracted and lost interest in this story. Look for one after I finish this fic, which should be around 20 chapters long. If I stick to my storyboard, that is.

If you see any typos, make sure to let me know! I'm posting this right after I finished writing it, and I only skimmed over it for typos. It's really late and I'm tired. D8

* * *

Chapter 3

In his private office, Sentinel Magnus scowled at his video screen and shoved a disk into his computron. It had been close to an orn since he'd woken up in the same office with a clearly aroused Bumblebee in his lap. At first he thought it was just a part of his dream. First, an enjoyable make-out session with Elita. Sentinel could handle this. Slag, that dream alone would've made his orn. In a dreamworld, BlackArachnia didn't exist, only Elita-One's pure past. Then Elita suddenly switched with Bumblebee. Sentinel was fine with this, too. As much as he hated to admit it, Bee had a slender and attractive chassis and it wasn't hard to ignore his shortcomings when presented the chance for an interface. But then, as it became clear that this wasn't a dream, and Bee really was staring up at him, straddling his powerful legs with a growing energon blush, the post-Elita pangs of anger and sorrow hit him. Sentinel lost it when the yellow compact brought up his departed love, subsequently taking his anger out on the poor Bee. The standing Magnus did not feel any guilt about throwing his subordinate out, but his rarely used sense of fair play stopped him from causing any real damage.

The comatose Ultra Magnus would have taken a look at the whole situation, Sentinel realized, and there was no one he admired more than Ultra Magnus. The truth is that Sentinel had no idea how to govern an entire planet, so he followed Ultra Magnus' example. He mistook the former Magnus' aloofness for an absolutely definite policy of no intimate relations with subordinates, and assumed that Magnus' strength was drawn from offense, not defense. If he was to gain any wisdom and respect, Sentinel would have to attack his problems head-on, in the military, in how he dealt with his men, and in how he dealt with his personal life.

So Sentinel came to see his depression over Elita-One's deactivation as a weakness, and he dealt with it the only way he could. He attacked it and slowly the sadness morphed into bitterness, directed at chiefly Optimus Prime. Though he occasionally felt those pangs of sorrow about the loss of his mate, he pushed it down and swapped it with anger and bitterness. And, now he had an outlet for these furious emotions in Optimus and in the Elite Guard.

Sentinel put a stopper on all of his brooding and tapped the touchscreen's play button impatiently. At first, he'd wanted to punch the little slagger for defiling Elita's name, but, no, it was the Autobot way to deal with things in a just and moral way. And, if there was one decency that Sentinel held dear, it was the Autobot's legacy of ideals. Though, if he found that Bumblebee had done something criminal in the video, Sentinel would go beat the annoying fragger senseless.

Unsubspacing a cube of high-grade, he took a large swig if high-grade and started the security video. He watched himself intently as he poured over datapads on the video. It took him less than a joor to fall asleep, his head hitting the desk with a rather loud thud and the datapads around him jumping from the impact. Bumblebee popped up a few joors later, obviously intending to prank him. Leaning forward, Sentinel was astonished to see Bee's plan backfire and land him in a rather unique situation. Although in recharge, he had been the one to initiate it all, Sentinel observed, shocked.

As he continued to watch, Sentinel's frustration mixed with astonishment grew. What was he going to do about this problem? Asking himself those vital questions, Sentinel sighed and cradled his head in his hands again. As his own mind drew a blank, he questioned himself even further. What would Ultra Magnus do? Sentinel came to a conclusion: he would attack this thing, because he wasn't even sure it was a problem, head on and without mercy.

Sentinel growled and quickly stood up, exiting his office with a determined attitude. He made his way to the security office, his bootplates clanking against the metal flooring. He knew exactly where Bumblebee would be, as he'd assigned the yellow bot to more monitor duty than usual mechs could handle.

When he made it down the hall, the security door was locked as usual. Sentinel swiped his security access card across the door's opening panel angrily, and the door swooshed open to reveal nothing but an empty monitor room. The mech gaped at it for a while, wondering where Bee had gotten the ball bearings to skip out on his shifts. Then the anger pressed in, and he quickly sent out an all-base open commlink.

_::Does anyone know where Bumblebee is?:: _The Magnus asked sharply. _::He's not doing his shift, the slagger.::_

The response was quick. _::Naw, sir. Ah don' think he's in the base ahnymore.:: _Sentinel grunted at his second-in-command's response. If Jazz, one of Bee's best friends at the Headquarters, didn't know what Bee was up to, then no one knew where he was and what he was doing.

The chorus of negatives from the other Elite Guards only confirmed his theory. Sentinel seethed, his clenched fists forcing huge dents into the monitor he was gripping in front of him.

That little slaghead'll be dead the next time he shows his faceplate here, Sentinel decided. _Dead._

* * *

Finally, after a three very long orns, Bee pulled up and transformed in front of Optimus' house. What greeted him was breath-taking. Optimus lived at the very top of one of the famed Praxian spiral towers. His penthouse was about the size of the quarter house that Bee and half of the Elite Guard lived in. As he made his way up to the top of the tower, he was greeted by a frowning secretary femme sitting in a desk in the entry way of the penthouse.

Bee strolled up to the femme, not quite sure what to do. She was typing away at her computron, a serious expression on her face. Bee "Ahem"'d quietly, trying to catch the femme's attention. The clicking of the keys halted, and the femme stared up at him, her frown returning. Her optics flicked disapprovingly down his chassis, sizing him up with a sneer, and she finally asked, "And just who are you?"

Bee shifted at her cold tone. "Um. I'm Bumblebee, one of Optimus' team on Earth." The femme arched an eyebrow at him and returned to her typing. Gazing at his feet, Bee continued, "I'm here to talk to him about something very important."

The femme's frown increased dramatically, though she didn't stop typing. "Optimus Prime has no time to talk to every common little bot that randomly pops up in his office." She paused, pursing her lips. "I highly doubt that you're Bumblebee, there's no way a weak little Kaonling like you could ever survive being attacked by Megatron's main battle force. Go back to your mining work, scum."

Bee bristled at her words. Just because he had the Kaon model didn't mean that he was some poor, working class mech without any aim towards life. "You look here, you prissy glitch. First off, its polite to _look_ at people when they're talking to you. Second, I really am Bumblebee. How can you not know me? Our whole crew was posted over and over on the Cybertronian live news feed!" The femme snapped her head back to Bee, pinning him with a dark, prejudiced glare. Bee continued further with his rant. "I've got stingers, just like Bumblebee." He activated his stingers, an electric current zipping across the silver surface to show their authenticity. "Slag, I'll even privately comm. him, and he doesn't give that out to just anyone." The blue secretary femme narrowed her eyes even further, her sensory doorwings twitching furiously. She opened her mouth to say something, but Bee cut her off with an open comm. link to his commander on earth.

_::Bumblebee, is that you?:: _Optimus' voice rang through the entryway. The arrogant secretary's shocked face was priceless.

_::Yeah, Optimus. Came out here to talk to you about something, but it seems your secretary femme won't let me in.:: _Bee paused to watch the femme freeze. _::She seems to think I'm some sort of fanbot."_

_::Oh, really?! I apologize for that, come in please. My office is the far right door in the hallway straight in front of you.::_

Sending the femme one last triumphant smirk, he walked down the hall in front of him and strolled through the far door on the right into Optimus' office. His office was very plain, a big desk covered in datapads, two padded guest chairs in front of the desk, and a few screens of Cybertronian cityscapes decorating the wall. Optimus himself sat, ram-rod straight, with his hands clasped in front of him. He smiled warmly when Bumblebee entered and greeted the yellow bot. "Hello, Bumblebee, it's nice to see you again! You should have comm.'d ahead that you were coming, I would have given you a much better reception than the one you had." He gestured to the chair, inviting him to sit down.

Bumblebee obeyed and took a seat. "Yeah, sorry about that. I probably should've comm.'d ahead, but I was in a hurry to get here. Had to figure out something."

At those words, Optimus' mood instantly turned cautious. He had been Bee's commanding officer for close to 4 vorns and he certainly knew about the yellow bot's curious streaks. "About me? What do you need to know?"

Bee shifted on his chair. He had an inkling that Elita was a touchy subject for both Sentinel and Optimus. Sighing, he decided he might as well just get it out as soon as possible. "Well, I was wondering if you knew a femme named Elita?"

Optimus stiffened, his optics going wide and his hands clenching together briefly, still clasped on his desk.

A klik passed before Optimus responded quietly, "How do you know about Elita?"

Bumblebee found himself focusing on his pedes again. "Sentinel said something to me." He paused. "Please, Optimus, I need to know how Sentinel and Elita are connected."

Another long pause ensued. Optimus fixed a searching gaze onto Bee, and the yellow compact continued to study his pedes. "Why do you need to know, Bee?" The red and blue fire truck asked.

Bee opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to find the right words. But, he quickly found that even he couldn't explain it and resigned himself to replying with a mumbled, "I don't know. I just need to know."

The Prime sighed and slumped in his seat slightly. He knew that Bumblebee wouldn't leave him alone if he didn't tell him. Better off to tell him now and have him get over it sometime in the next vorn, Optimus reasoned.

"Alright, I'll tell you how me and Sentinel knew Elita." He sighed, and Bee instantly brightened up, smiling. "Sentinel, Elita-One, which was her full name, and I were on a team while I was still in the Autobot Academy. She was a very talented and valuable femme back then, and her downloading power was widely desired. Now, Sentinel and Elita came to be in a relationship. I think they were planning on getting bonded before she deactivated. Anyway. One orn, Sentinel thought it was a good idea to explore an off-limits organic planet that was rumored to have a Decepticon ship hidden somewhere. Turns out, the planet was off-limits for a reason. Not even a breem after we landed on the planet we were attacked by giant spiders. Eventually, we found the Decepticon ship, but we were surrounded by the spiders and had to escape. The ship was filled with unstable energon, and right as Elita and I were escaping, her downloading power failed and she fell back into the ship. I noticed the energon was about to blow, so I grabbed Sentinel and got to safety right as the ship blew up and deactivated Elita."

Here, Optimus paused to stare sadly at his hands, feeling the guilt anew as Bumblebee gaped at him in disbelief. "It was all I could do!" He continued. "If I would've went back for her, all of us would be offline. Sentinel still resents me for it, too, that's why he hates me. And it's the reason behind his horrible personality. He never used to be like this, only a little arrogant. But, he was brave and had a high sense of honor."

Bumblebee could only gape in shock. Optimus, willingly abandoning someone? He could never see the noble bot doing something so cruel. But, he could see the reasoning behind it. Optimus had no choice but to go to safety with Sentinel. One life lost is better than three lives lost. Bumblebee felt a pang of sadness when he realized that this complex decision had wedged a life-long dislike between the two, and ruined a perfectly good friendship.

Bringing his gaze up to the slumping mech, Bee commented quietly, "Oh, wow. I never expected this to be that sad. I'm sorry for bringing it up, bossbot." He stood up, planning on leaving. Pausing as he reached the door, he remarked to the silent Optimus, "Optimus. You're always offering an ear to our thoughts and a shoulder to cry on to us, and it would only be fair to offer it back. You can always talk to me, you know." Feeling an energon blush creep up to his cheeks as he realized how affectionate that sounded, Bee continued, stuttering, "Um. If you want to, that is."

Suddenly, a pair of warm arms wrapped his shoulders into a tight hug over the desk. Optimus hugged Bee warmly, with the yellow compact's face pressed into his windshields. Bee stiffened for a nanoklik, and then hugged back. After a few nanokliks, an embarrassed Optimus realized what he was doing and released the smaller mech, blushing. "I would like that. It would be nice to get some stuff off of my chest." He admitted quietly.

Bee positively beamed. He sat back down, and the two of them talked for the next three breems. Bee figured out countless things about Optimus that he never would've guessed. The two found themselves becoming closer and closer each klik. They were less like comrades now, and more like brothers. Bee's admiration of Optimus grew considerably.

Bee left when Cybertron's two moons peeked above the skyline and darkness crept upon the metallic planet. He was more cheerful than ever as he made his way back to Iacon, not even realizing that he'd skipped two monitor shifts in the process and was headed for deep slag when he returned to the Headquarters.


	4. Chapter 4

THIS IS SO LATE, I BEG YOUR FORGIVENESS.

But, this chapter does almost double the size of the story. And it has important plot stuffs, ah ha! I lied about the smut, though. I tried to force a few smut pages out, but it seemed rushed and not very realistic. Not that any of this is realistic in the first place. Ugh.

First off. I always envisioned Lockdown as the type of bot who flirts with anything pretty. He's not actually seriously interested in Bee. He's just being a lecherous old mech. xD

Secondly, this is the chapter where I'm starting to add in some G1 characters. ;]

Last, and most importantly, I don't know what this is. O.o It made sense when I first thought of it. SENTINEL HAS A BIPOLAR PERSONALITY GLITCH IN HIS PROCESSORS. D8

My biggest problem with writing this chapter was that I would always get the super good ideas right when I was about to go to sleep. And, every single time, I would think to myself, "Oh, just write it down when you wake up tomorrow!" and then go to sleep. Of course, when I woke up in the morning, I could remember that I had a good idea… I JUST COULDN'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS. D: pisses me off.

Sunstreeeeaker. :3

I USED THE WORD WARMONGER, YESSSSSS.

I really should get a beta. :/

SENTINEL IS SO AWKWARD AND RIDICULOUS, ITS CUTEEE. 3 The episode "Predacons Rising" basically fuels this whole story. :3 Am I the only one who notices these things? Did _you_ notice? Or am I just depraved? D: -squirms unhappily-

RESPONSE TIME:

DreamStoryWeaver and Kyothefallenkit: DON'T TEMPT ME! Gah, I didn't even look at in that sorta way when I wrote it. But, no, I wouldn't do that to poor Bee. And Optimus belongs with Starscream, end of story. :D

… I hope I wouldn't do that to Bee. o.o

Yeah, I think that's enough inane rambling from me. Enjoy. (:

DISCLAIMER: Don't own Transformers Animated.

* * *

Chapter 4

Bee was greeted by Jazz as he arrived back at the Autobot Headquarters. The older mech approached him as soon as he got through the door, a worried look on his faceplates. "What in Primus' name is wrong with ya, Bee?" He whispered furiously. "Its not like ya to skip out on monitor duty like that. SM's _pissed_."

Bee abruptly stopped and gaped at Jazz. "Oh SLAG!" He wailed, clutching his head in his servos. "I completely forgot about monitor duty! I am so screwed, he was already pissed at me before this!"

Jazz huffed, amused and, at the same time, astonished by how often Bumblebee got on Sentinel's bad side. "What'd ya do this time?" He teased. "Put ink in his energon? Or did ya just blurt out somethin' stupid like usual?"

Quite suddenly, a shadow loomed ominously over the two. Bee whipped around to see the very mech the two 'bots had been talking about. Sentinel towered over the two, an intense glare fixed on Bee. His left optic twitched slightly, and he boomed a cold dismissal at Jazz. The cyberninja obeyed, but not without a worried glance backwards at Bee.

The two Elite Guardsmen stared at each other for a few very long kliks. Bee shuffled under Sentinel's intense scrutiny, fuel pumps thudding loudly in his ears. Sentinel finally broke the silence, thundering, "Report to double oil cleaning duty. Once your duties are finished, report to my office. Immediately."

* * *

Bee wiped furiously at an oil stain on his thigh plating. He was due in Sentinel's office in about a klik, but this stubborn stain would not disappear and Sentinel was sure to spot it. Sentinel was notorious for his sharp optics and obsessive cleanliness, and the stain would make the situation even worse.

Bee was scared. Not of Sentinel himself, but of his position and power as Magnus. Sentinel could take away his position, his dream, and not even bat an optic cover at it. The fact that he'd taken a liking to the mech didn't help matters at all.

Abandoning his attempts to clean the stain, he shivered and moved on. Thinking was making him so much more nervous, and Bee almost considered stalling some more and holding off the whole thing. But, no, he had to do this. Maybe he could convince Sentinel to let him stay. He figured he should probably make a quick stop to see Alphatron-3 and ask for some advice. The computron had probably read enough romance datapads to actually offer some sound advice, albeit over-the-top and mushy.

Lost in thought, the yellow compact turned a corner and ran right into another mech's much larger chassis. The two went tumbling to the floor, the other mech catching Bee around the waist as he was about to hit a sharp corner. Bee groaned and struggled to sit up, removing the hands, one of which was a hook, from his waist. Wait, a hook?! He froze to peer straight down at a familiar tattooed face. Lockdown. Shrieking, he scrambled clumsily to the nearest wall. "What're you doing here, Lockdown?!" He yelled, activating his stingers so fast the electricity crackled in the air.

Lockdown chuckled, propping himself up to leer lecherously at the mech. "Miss me, kiddo?"

"Absolutely not!" Bee shrieked, firing his stingers and missing by a full foot. Faster than he could see, Lockdown had him pinned against the wall, his hands above his head.

"Relax, kiddo, I'm here on business. Your Magnus called me here, you know." Lockdown paused to chuckle darkly. "Didn't know they handed out that title so lightly. I never would've thought that an idiot like that could even become a _Prime,_ let alone a Magnus."

Bee kicked fiercely at Lockdown. That wasn't just an insult to Sentinel, but an insult to Bee, one of the "idiot"'s subordinates. "He is _not_ an idiot!"

"Aww, did I hit a nerve?" Lockdown smirked at the still struggling Bee. Well, ain't that cute, the bounty hunter thought.

His amusement grew as Bumblebee continued to kick at him, an energon blush of anger staining his cheekplates. Lockdown leaned forward, trapping the mech's neck with his hook and tilting Bee's face up to his. A lecherous grin formed on the bounty hunter's tattooed face as his prey stared up at him in confusion and anger. "Well, ain't you a feisty one? I like that in a mech." He rumbled suggestively. "'Specially one as cute as you. How 'bout we go out fer some energon sometime, just you and me?"

Bee shuttered his optics in surprise and confusion. What? Out of all the things Lockdown could have said there, he decided to ask him on a date? His earlier frustration and anger bubbled back up and he continued his kicking, screaming at the mech, "NO. Why the frag would I go out with you, especially after all you did my team back on Earth? How stupid are you? Let me down!" The bounty hunter couldn't contain it anymore, he boomed with laughter as he released the mech's neck. "Relax, cutie. I ain't gonna hurt you. I was just leavin', anyway." Throwing one last amused smirk at Bee, he strolled down the hall, his mismatched pedes clanking heavily against the armored floor plating.

Bee glared at the retreating mech's back, sorely tempted to shoot him in the back. He decided against it, and continued his trek, less scared and much angrier.

* * *

Finally, Bee reached Sentinel's office. Practically shaking from nervous anxiety, he took in a swift intake of air to calm himself and pressed the door chime tentatively. The door comm. link fizzed for a nanoklik, before Sentinel's annoyed voice sounded through the static. "Who is it?" He growled. Bee leaned forward into the comm., trembling. "It's Bumblebee, reporting for duty, sir."

Sentinel paused and replied, "Come in, Bumblebee." The door whooshed open, revealing a sparsely decorated office. Sentinel was seated at the plain desk swamped with datapads, slumped with a hostile expression. Bee was reminded, oddly, of Optimus's office, and of his straight posture at his desk. This reminded him that Sentinel and Optimus were very, _very _different mechs.

Sentinel glared at him, and finally broke the palpable silence. "You know why you're here, Bumblebee, and you should be ashamed of yourself for letting down the Elite Guard and compromising its reputation like that. What would've happened if something got past our sensors? How would you explain how some petty thief or Decepticon sympathizer got past our senses to the media? It was your job to protect the only real defense this planet has left, and you failed at it." He paused, optics flashing dangerously at his quivering subordinate. "I should have you thrown from the Elite Guard, and into a stockade somewhere. What you did was foolish and reckless and I won't tolerate it, not as long as I'm Magnus! There are other threats out there besides Decepticons, Bumblebee!" The enraged mech stood up and slammed his servos on the table, knocking off a datapad and making Bumblebee flinch in response. "Now, unless you can tell me a good reason why you left, and I mean a **good **reason, you can kiss your Elite Guard dreams good-bye."

Bee froze, staring at the floor. Somehow Bumblebee knew that his answer would not make the situation any better. But, he couldn't think of an excuse to leave at all, so he ran with the truth. "I… uh… went to see Optimus." He mumbled tentatively.

Sentinel furrowed his eyebrow ridges. "You went to see Optimus?" He repeated flatly.

"I know about Elita-One." Bee blurted, and then paled as he realized his mistake. Oh, Primus, Bee, you idiot! He thought frantically. He's going to kill you now! Primus, why couldn't you have just kept your vocal units off?!

Sentinel roared and launched himself at the mech, closing his fist around Bee's neck cables before the former maintenance bot could react. "He told you about Elita, did he?" He sneered, slamming Bee's back into the door. Bumblebee could only whimper and claw at the servos at his neck frantically. Sentinel continued his rant, "Did he tell you how close I was to bonding with her? How he forced me back to the ship without even going back to search for her? HUH? He doesn't have any right to give out that kind of information, especially since he caused it all! It was his fault we didn't go back to rescue her, his fault that she became such a… a freak!" Sentinel yelled and increased the pressure on Bee's neck cables. Through his rage he faintly heard something crunch awkwardly in Bee's inner neck cabling.

"A freak?" Bee managed to choke out. "But… she's offline!"

Sentinel paused, scrutinizing Bee closely. Quite suddenly, he was overcome with bitter laughter. "Is that what he told you? That she offlined?" He snorted. "No, she's much worse now. She's that techno-organic Black Arachnia. Not just a technorganic, but a Decepticon too!"

"Then she's still alive!" Bee rasped. He was starting to see black on the edges of his optics from the strain in his neck. "She's still alive, and even though she's half-organic, she's still the same Elita-One! How can you say that?" His pedes scratched at the metal floor plating helplessly.

The Magnus's glare grew an insane tinge to it, and he replied, snarling, "She's not the same! She's a Decepticon! She's deceitful and treacherous and cruel! You saw what she did to Wasp!" He barked. Bumblebee couldn't even form a response to that, his vocal processors glitching as his emergency vents whooshed on. "Elita One would never do something like that!" The enraged mech continued. "That Black Arachnia bitch is completely different!"

At this point, Bee's systems couldn't sustain full motor skills. Sentinel's vice grip had crushed an internal fuel line in his neck cables and limited the energon flow to his central processors, and, in turn, his processors had to shut off unvital systems to keep him from going into stasis. The last thing Bee's processors registered before he offlined was the insane glint in Sentinel's optics retreating into a glazed-over, mournful haze. He fell limp into the blue mech's titan hold, out for the count.

* * *

Bumblebee's system's faintly came back online with a soft, content whirr. He blinked blearily, appreciating the dim lighting groggily. There was a faint throbbing in his neck, and Bee briefly brought a servo up to rub the cables, tracing a pronounced dent curiously at the back of his neck. He could feel his self-repair systems faintly vibrating beneath the dent. Still half-in-recharge, he sleepily wondered where it came from and why he was sprawled across the floor when a perfectly good berth was only a few feet from him. He crawled into it, snuggling into a much cooshier berth than his own military grade one. Intakes slowing to the recharging state, he was fast-in-recharge in less than a klik.

* * *

The next time Bee woke up, it was from the loud whoosh of the door sliding open. He cracked an optic open and groggily propped himself up on an elbow joint to see a shocked Sentinel in the doorway. A clearly interested sapphire and white noblemech peered around the bulky blue mech from his office in the next room.

Sentinel stared at Bee with wide optics. He'd left the slagger on the floor, completely out of view of his next appointment! Now the yellow mech was sprawled haphazardly on _his_ berth, propped up on his elbow with his legs spread wide open and peering up at him with narrowed, almost _sultry_, gaze. (Authoress: that look would actually be called sleepy, Sentinel, but I guess you see what you want to see. ;]) What in the Pit is wrong with him?! The Magnus thought wearily. I call him a fool and a failure and almost strangle him to deactivation, and now he wants to 'face with me? He turned back to the noblemech and asked politely if he could have a few moments in his private quarters. Of course, the noble complied, with a scarily knowing look. The Magnus practically stabbed the close button to his private quarters, turning around swiftly to hiss at the mech in his berth, "What are you doing in my berth?!"

"I dunno." Bee slurred through a yawn, drooping down to go back to recharge. "Comfier than the floor." He mumbled into the squishy foam.

Sentinel strolled over and yanked on the yellow mech's leg. "What is your problem?!" Bee squawked, kicking fiercely and clutching the foam underneath him as hard as he could. Sentinel tried to pull Bee to the floor, but Bee's grip was too firm and he didn't want to tear the berth padding. "Okay, fine!" he snarled, releasing the mech. "You can recharge there, but would you please close your legs? No one wants to see that!"

Bee huffed loudly and stretched even wider. He'd just lost his place in the Elite Guard, and he wasn't going to take any slag from his afthole former commander! "Well, you didn't seem to mind an orn ago when you were MOLESTING ME IN YOUR RECHARGE CYCLE!"

"I didn't see you complaining about it!" Sentinel argued. "No, you were too busy moaning and shivering like a pleasurebot!"

"It's not like I had a choice, you glitching slagger!"

"Primus, Bee, what is with you?!" Sentinel growled in exasperation. "Not even a breem ago you were terrified of me, and now you're screeching at me like you're a pissy Starscream! Do you have a personality glitch or something?"

"No, I hate you!" Bee screeched, poking Sentinel hard in the chest armor. "Since I'm not in the Elite Guard anymore, I don't have to listen to you! You were such an afthole to me, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" Bee was tired, cranky, stressed, his neck hurt, and definitely not a happy camper. His angry, defiant blue optics met an equally miffed blue glare from Sentinel. The two stared each other down, neither willing to back down and lose.

A few nanokliks was all it took for Sentinel to lose and break eye contact. Exasperated and confused, the Magnus let out a long sigh and cradled his head in his hands, a familiar gesture to Bee.

He wanted to touch Sentinel. Bumblebee scowled inwardly to himself, cursing his indecisive, kind, and forgiving nature as well as his immature crush. Maybe I just have a thing for selfish jerks, he thought, looking back on his first crush, an attractive, egotistical racer Alpha named Sunstreaker.

Sentinel broke the silence. "I can't fire you, Bee." He admitted, muffled by his bulky servos. "I need as many Elite Guardsmechs as possible right now."

"Why? It's peacetime, why would you need soldiers?"

"We are on the brink of another war here, Bee. The Alphas have been clamoring for war on the Praxians for vorns. My agents report that they've been stockpiling energon and weapons. They've been hiring Decepticon and bounty hunter mercenaries. And now, my main spy, the blue and white mech outside, reports that they've found a leader, a warmonger named Straxus."

He paused, letting this critical information sink through. Bee gaped at him, mouth plates wide open in a perfect, surprised 'O'. Admittedly, he knew that this eventually going to happen, just not in his lifetime.

Sentinel continued, "I don't know what to do. Should I attack them head-on? Should I tell the Praxians to just leave and take refuge elsewhere? Should I follow what the Praxians want me to do, and make a whole new democratic government with officials elected by the people and steal the all the nobility's power from them?" He sighed, and repeated much more firmly, "I don't know what to do!"

"Why are you telling me this?" Bee asked bluntly after a moment of puzzled silence. "You were just trying to kill me. Are you expecting me to feel sorry for you?"

"No, no." he denied softly. "I don't know."

Bee shuffled awkwardly. Ah, frag this, he thought. Sentinel didn't expel him from the Elite Guard, he kind of owed it to the mech to treat him civilly. Admittedly, he didn't know at the time that there was such a sensitive situation on Cybertron, but that didn't change anything. And, maybe if he was civil to Sentinel, the Magnus would return the favor and be nice to Bee for once in his life.

_::Maybe you can get into his panel, too!::_ A robotic, feminine voice giggled over his comm., making him jerk in surprise.

_::Get off my comm., Alphatron!:: _He yelled inwardly, abruptly cutting off her giggles over his comm.

Turning back to Sentinel, he suddenly didn't know what to say.

"What would Ultra Magnus do?" The blue mech sighed.

Bee couldn't resist his urge to touch him, gently rubbing the bigger mech's broad right shoulder, brushing his truck plows. "This isn't about what Ultra Magnus would do." He reminded Sentinel softly. "He isn't around, and he left you as his successor for a reason."

Sentinel stiffened at the unintentional touch to his plows. "Don't touch me there." He hissed through his dentals.

Bee froze, pausing his ministrations for a klik to question Sentinel softly, "What?"

"Don't touch my plows." The blue mech repeated. His body spoke otherwise, as the mech unconsciously leaned into the soft touch. Bee realized with a start that Sentinel probably hadn't had a relationship with a bot in megavorns. Not that they were in a relationship, per se, but chances were that he was the only one to connect with Sentinel on a personal level in a very, very long time. Their connection was definitely not romantic, but Sentinel had revealed to Bee his long-hidden thoughts and emotions that he had never shown anyone else.

Chewing nervously on his lower lip, Bee brushed his tiny servos into the blue metal of Sentinel's shoulders. Sentinel growled, "What did I just tell you not to do?"

"It'll help you relax." Bee smiled, faintly amused at the dubious Magnus. "I promise I won't try anything, just turn around and relax."

Sentinel eyed the younger 'bot wearily. Bee struggled to keep his inviting smile up as the dent in his neck throbbed ominously. Oh, yes. Bee was definitely aware of the boundaries he was crossing, and of the danger if he did not succeed. But Bee was ruled by impulses, and his instincts were screaming at him to give Sentinel a massage.

Finally, Sentinel let out a long sigh and plopped down on the edge of the berth, facing away from Bee. "Fine." He grumbled, shooting a sulky glance at the door and angling his head so Bee couldn't see his face. "But no funny business!" His chin jutted out as if to accentuate his point.

Bee only hummed in response, rubbing his servos in small circles underneath the headlights at the base of Sentinel's neck, applying only the slightest pressure. He slowly moved outwards to the tires that made up Sentinel's shoulders, carefully avoiding any sensitive seams and gradually adding more pressure. He kneaded the metal closest to the wheels with his knuckles, eyeing a bundle of painfully twisted wires in the seam connecting Sentinel's headlights and neck cables. Bee was positive he could fix that. Just what was considered "funny business"?

Sentinel sighed again and slumped into Bee's massage. "How are you so good at this?" The question was off his vocalizer as fast as it popped up in his processor.

Bee grinned cheekily. "I had a lover once who made me give him a massage right before we 'faced."

The blue bot's head snapped back to glare at Bee accusingly. "I said no funny business."

"What?" Bee grinned even wider, raising his servos up to show his innocence. "You're the one who asked." Just as Sentinel tried to respond, yellow servos snaked up and into his neck seam to untangle the wires there. The Magnus made a funny noise of surprise, an odd combination of an "oooh!" and a "guh!" He quickly regained his exposure. "Can you hear? No funny business!"

"I'm sorry, but it looked painful!" Talented servos slowly ran across blue armor again, stopping only to trace seams and eventually the headlights on Sentinel's back, making him sigh at the sensation. It wasn't a pleasurable sensation, but calming and relaxing, a very welcome emotion to the overworked Magnus.

Bee chewed on his lower lip, letting his servos rest on broad navy shoulders. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be?" He muttered, glancing at the doorway and the waiting noblemech behind it.

Annoyed by the loss of such a good sensation, Sentinel was reluctant to stand up. He hoisted himself up, half-turning to peer at the yellow mech again. Bee gazed up, perched on Sentinel's own berth, shuttering his optics as the pause between the two grew. It was cute, Sentinel realized with mild horror. Adorable, even.

Without thinking, he reached forward and snagged Bumblebee's cheek. His thumb digit gently caressed a gray metal cheek, now adorned with a light pink energon blush. "Thank you." Sentinel blurted, before stiffly turning and rushing to the doorway, gone faster than Bee could say "Elite Guard."

Bee gaped at the door. "You're welcome." He murmured to the door, bringing a servo up to brush the cheek Sentinel had stroked fondly. Bee settled back onto the headrest, content with just snuggling into the cozy berth and anticipating Sentinel's return.


	5. Chapter 5

I really am sorry about how late this is. These last few months have been extremely hard for me, and I just couldn't find the time or the motivation to write. Well, actually, I do have about 30,000 words of pure angst and emo-ness saved on my laptop from the last couple of months, but those will never see the light of day. They embarrass me. XD

Anyway. Not much to say about this one. It's pretty short, sorry. :C But, it deals with important stuffs!

Someone should make a CartoonRussian-to-English dictionary. It was so hard to write that accent. XD

There will be another chapter soon, followed by a challenge round of drabbles which is heading towards 25,000+ words long! :D MY COMPETITOR WILL NOT WIN THIS ONE. I'LL HAVE MORE WORDS AAAAAAAAAAND CRACKIER PAIRINGS. –cackles- I'm excited to post that one, its coming along **soooo** well. I just need to write a few more drabbles AND THEN I'LL BE DONE! :D

Sleeping Sentinel likes to sleep. And molest cute little yellow sub-compacts. :B

Disclaimer: Don't own any of this stuff. :/

* * *

Chapter 5

"So, what's the prognosis, Mirage?" asked Sentinel, thrumming his fingers against his desk.

"It's… not good, Magnus." The blue mech admitted in his low, cultured voice. "Straxus is gathering an army. We know for a fact that almost all of the bounty hunters are being hired by him, and there's a rumor going around that he's even hiring Decepticons."

"What else? Anything new?" The stressed Magnus kneaded his forehead again, feeling a headache slither into his processors.

"Well, yes." Mirage blinked. "For the last few days before I left, he'd been sending off a deep-space cruiser every joor or two. He must be looking for something, but he's keeping it very hush-hush."

Sentinel shot a harshly searching look at the noblemech. He was one of Ultra Magnus's old spies, and, not that Sentinel didn't trust Ultra Magnus, he just always had a clinging dislike of the nobility. "So, he's off in space, lookin' for some big, bad intergalactic… _thing_." Sentinel growled, abandoning the thrumming to grip the desk firmly. "Slag, I can't follow him through space, he would notice."

"We could always just catch him hiring Decepticons, sir." Mirage suggested blandly. "That _is _illegal, you know, and he hasn't exactly been careful in covering up his tracks."

Sentinel shifted in his seat apprehensively, before standing up abruptly to shake the mech's hand. "That all?" He queried, before standing up abruptly to shake the mech's hand as Mirage gave a quick nod. The noblemech squeezed his hand in a calm but collected way. "You may leave now." Sentinel dismissed Mirage with a wave of the hand.

As the mech walked out the door, Sentinel realized the fallacy of the mech's seemingly-reassuring statement. Catching Straxus hiring Decepticon's wouldn't stop the malice flooding the nobility of Cybertron. No, Sentinel would need something… much more dramatic and powerful to suppress the current rage of the Alphas. Sentinel collapsed back into his chair, rubbing at his newfound processor and neck cable aches. Maybe I could get Bumblebee to rub them out for me, the Magnus thought absentmindedly.

And, he was right, too, for as soon as he curled up next to the yellow 'bot three joors later, after finishing up a few reports of course, the younger mech snuggled closer to Sentinel. He slept better than he had in vorns that night, Bumblebee's comforting presence making his stressful thoughts slip slowly away for the night.

* * *

At first, Sentinel's avid avoidance of Bumblebee was cute. Now, it was just plain annoying. How in the Pit was he supposed to deliver a report to a mech who won't even look at him?

Primus, the mech didn't even notice Bumblebee's abrupt pause in the middle of his annual thievery report. Bumblebee's optic twitched, frowning angrily as he finally gave up pretending that Sentinel was listening and not slowly creeping towards the door to escape.

And that's when Bumblebee snapped. "Holy Primus, Sentinel!" He yelled, slamming the datapad report on the blue Magnus's desk with a loud crunch. "I've seen sparklings handle relationships better than you do! What's your problem?"

Sentinel muttered something low under his breath, so faint that Bee couldn't hear it.

"We didn't even _do_ anything!" The yellow continued furiously. "Why are you so embarrassed?" He pinned the mech with a confused look.

"Yes we did." Sentinel's optics slowly grew dimmer and dimmer.

"Um, no. No, we did not." Bumblebee argued flatly.

The Magnus did not deign a response to this, and Bumblebee realized what was going to happen a second too late. He watched blankly as Sentinel slowly slumped forward and landed heavily on his desk. A datapad crunched as its glass screen shattered from the impact.

"Frag my life." Bumblebee grumbled. He debated just leaving the mech there. He appeared to be recharged, his fans were whirring softly and his optics were offline. There's nothing wrong with a little bit of recharge, now, is there? Although, Bumblebee had a slight sense of déjà vu concerning the _last_ time he encountered Sentinel sleeping on his desk. And, Primus knows, he did not want to repeat that situation.

Bumblebee turned to leave. Honestly, the mech deserved it. If Sentinel had no urge to help his subordinates, then his subordinates would have no problem returning the sentiment, even if the Magnus was potentially injured. Bumblebee's optics dimmed at that. What if he was injured? Was he sparkless enough to just leave him there?

He turned back to Sentinel, grumbling. Of course, the mech was still there, oblivious to the world. The click and low grumbling of his vents switching on startled Bumblebee into jumping. Bumblebee frowned and touched the mech's shoulder lightly to confirm whether or not Sentinel was overheating. It scorched his fingers and he pulled back with a hiss.

Sentinel was definitely overheating, Bumblebee decided with a grimace. The least he would do is get Sentinel to his berth and call Red Alert to check on him.

He pushed gently on the mech's shoulders to lift him up, his hands sizzling against the burning metal. He pulled back again. This isn't working, he thought with another frown. Not only was he not even budging the heavy Magnus, but he was damaging his lightly-armored servos. His thick chassis armor would protect him from the heat, but not his servos.

Bumblebee grimaced. He knew what he had to do, and he was not happy about it. He slowly made his way under the desk and underneath Sentinel, rising up so the recharging mech rested on his shoulders. Sentinel's weight was stifling, Bumblebee realized as he struggled to somehow balance the mech on his shoulders and walk to the berth at the same time.

He should've known that this wasn't going to work. As soon as he took his first staggering step, his blue burden slipped and crashed towards the floor. Bumblebee reacted quickly, grabbing Sentinel's head swiftly by his large audio receptors. Sentinel's face ended up pressing against Bumblebee's crotchplate. The yellow mech's optic twitched slightly at the horrific site, his servos moving as quickly as possible in order to move the mech.

A flicker of red on the desk caught his attention. The recently smashed datapad on the desk repeatedly flashed bolded glyphs. Pushing Sentinel's head away from his crotch and closer to his hip, Bee unconsciously leaned forward. The heavily-cracked datapad flashed 'TOP SECRET' in big, scarlet letters, and suddenly Bee needed to read it.

Oddly enough, the report was not password-encrypted. Bee had no trouble reaching the brief but shocking report. It read:

_TO: Sentinel Magnus, Commander of the Autobot Elite Guard_

_FROM: Jazz, Intelligence Officer_

_DATE: 2__nd__ Orn of the 256__th__ Megavorn after the Decepticon's Defeat_

_SUBJECT: Update on the Alpha situation_

_New Special Ops team and bounty hunters ready and in place for the mission. Target is blissfully unaware of our presence. Awaiting your final order initiate the assassination. _

Bumblebee gaped at the datapad. Just who was Sentinel trying to assassinate? They really weren't kidding when they slapped that 'top secret' label on the top of this one! Before Bumblebee could contemplate the datapad's contents completely, a sudden burning on his hip plates distracted him.

Sentinel's arms came up to rest on one side of Bumblebee's hip plates, gripping it faintly. Bumblebee turned to stare at the offending arms dubiously. Did they just move on their own? The last time he checked, they were hanging limply from Sentinel's broad shoulders and brushing the floor. At that moment, something warm and wet encompassed his other hip. Bumblebee whipped around to watch in discontent as the sleeping Magnus sucked on his hip gently.

"You have got to be kidding me." Bumblebee was not amused.

* * *

_Meanwhile, on Earth…_

Swoop cawed shrilly, perched in his newly made nest to bask in the sun. He had found a protruding ledge on the face of the mountain on Dinobot Island. Using strong tree branches and scraps from Meltdown's destroyed lab, he'd constructed a large, heavy nest supported by 3 strong, large, solid steel beams.

"Me Swoop like nest." The little Dinobot cooed. "Gives me Swoop room to stretch wings!"

Practically purring, the pterodactyl slowly slipped into recharge.

"INTRUDER!"

The roar echoed across the valley, startling Swoop out of recharge and out of his nest. He crashed down the mountain, finally grasping a hold of a strong tree on the rocky face and launching himself into flight after hitting a few boulders roughly.

A laser shot punched through the thin armor of his wing, tearing a shriek of pain from the Dinobot and forcing him to drop beneath the treeline as jet thrusters screamed from above. A purple jet fired haphazardly at the hidden Dinobot, dotting the forest with laser fire and lighting whole sections of the forest on fire.

Another deafening roar sounded behind Swoop, followed by the groaning of falling trees and thundering booms that shook the ground beneath him.

Swoop aimed a blind fireball at his attacker, who easily dodged the poorly aimed shot. Swoop took this momentary distraction to fly off, soaring above his attacker and landing a direct hit on the jet, blackening his cockpit, nosecone, and part of his left wing.

The jet quickly screamed across the horizon and out of Swoop's sight. The pterodactyl soared back up to his nest to survey his surroundings. The entire west side of the island was in uncontrollable flames, and trees were rapidly falling in the north. Dust clouds erupted around the falling trees, and the occasional roar sounded through the dust. Grimlock and Slag must be fighting up there, he realized and swiftly took off to assist his Dinobot brethren.

Dodging the incoming trees, Swoop raced to reach the scene on time. Not even a klik later, the flyer was greeted by plumes of dust and the booming thuds of giant pedes slamming to the ground. The dust cleared in reaction to Swoop's approach, giving him a glimpse of a proud Tyrannosaurus wrestling with a true behemoth of a mech.

Swoop shrieked a shrill encouragement for his brother, fluidly circling around the field. Pain suddenly flared in his back as cold, unforgiving steel pierced his spinal strut, jutting out from his underbelly. Automatically, his systems shut down his flight capabilities to concentrate on his impaled back. And he was falling, falling, falling, the harsh wind slapping at him as he soon met with Earth's one true constant: the ground.

The new scrap pile known as Swoop barely kept himself online. Over the blaring of internal alarms and his own slowing sparkbeat, the fall of his treasured brethren was as clear as day. His damaged vocalizers let out one last, dying shriek as he watched the strong alt. mode of Grimlock crash to the ground and cease to move.

After that, not even the burning slide of the energon blade in his back being pulled out penetrated the static invading Swoop's systems.

"I thought you said there were no Autobots left on this pathetic planet." An eerily unemotional voice sounded above him.

"Vell, I guezz I vaz vrong." The second voice, deep, heavily accented and vaguely female, chuckled from a distance away. "No mazzer! Load zem into ze ship, and make zure zey don' die on ze vay!"

A brief pause. "We're keeping them?"

The second voice boomed in laughter. "Of courzz! Zey vould make vine Decepticons."

A new sound killed the whimper crawling up Swoop's neck cables. The slow swipe of an energon blade being cleaned. "… What about BlackArachnia?"

"Ze mission haz been changed." The femme paused. "Bezidez, ve do not need zat traitor anyvay. Zere are other zientistz to take her plaze."

The mech's 'hmph' showed that he did not agree. "These filthy Autobots are not going to willingly join the cause."

"Vell. That iz vhat cerebro shells are for."

Swoop's processors finally failed, sending the lithe Dinobot instantly into stasis.


End file.
